How to Achieve Content Development Success

Content marketing is hitting the B2B world by storm.  According to the report, “B2B Content Marketing: 2010 Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends”, nine out of ten B2B marketers use some type of content marketing.

So how can you very easily kick off your content development projects?

If you are new to content marketing, it may seem daunting to think about where or how to begin.  These 3 keys should help clarify:

1. Goals
2. Ideas
3. Resources

First, begin by mapping out your objectives.  What do you hope to accomplish with your content development efforts?  Drive more traffic to your site?  Get more inbound leads?  Develop your company’s brand online? Build your company’s thought leadership? It is imperative to understand your goals prior to implementing any content development initiatives so you can be FOCUSED on what is important to your company!  Be sure to retain your target audience in your mind while you create your goals.  This is the only way you can ensure you are offering higher levels of customer engagement.

Second, start brainstorming several ideas.  Document a long list of different content types.  If you need a good place to start, review Joe Pulizzi and Jonathan Kranz’s Content Marketing Playbook for 42 content types.

Third, look at your resources – people, time and money.   If you take a good look at your resources, it will help you to determine exactly what you can do as a business.  It will also help to determine the gaps within your internal capabilities, making it clear when and how you can use freelancers to enhance your marketing efforts.

I hope these three measures make your content development endeavors seem a little less complicated.

Amanda Maksymiw is a Marketing Associate at OpenView Labs.

Related articles

• Writing is a Critical B2B Marketing Skill (customerthink.com)
• The Decline of Advertising and the Rise of Content Marketing (customerthink.com)
• Are You Letting the Competition Drive Your Marketing? (customerthink.com)
• Tips & Tricks to Creating B2B Marketing Videos (customerthink.com)
• The Solution To Your Content Marketing Problems (socialmediaexplorer.com)

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